Cast says 'Parks and Recreation' will not get boring after sudden union

Feb. 25, 2013

Written by

Kristy McDaniel

Contributing Writer

NBC comedy Parks and Recreation is in its fifth season, but the marriage of its two main characters, Leslie Knope and Ben Wyatt, is in its infancy. Last Thursday, the two tied the knot on the show, marking a relationship that has been five years in the making.

“It was always a wait and see thing,” said Adam Scott, who plays Wyatt. “From the very start, there was more to it than a simple ‘will they or won’t they.’”

Even producer Mike Schur seemed unable to say if the relationship has always been in the works. What Shur did say is that the show will not begin to focus solely on the newlyweds.

“They have three-dimensional lives,” said Schur. “Maybe if there’s a trap you can fall into, it’s that you have to keep telling the story just about the relationship, and that can get boring. We don’t have that problem. Their lives have never been about each other, although that’s a huge part of their lives; they love each other, but there’s a lot of other stuff going on.”

Parks and Rec, which focuses on the lives of the employees of the Department of Parks and Recreation in Pawnee, Ind., uses a “mockumentary” style of filming; a single camera follows the characters throughout their day, where they occasionally break the “fourth wall” by looking and speaking directly into the lens. Viewers feel immediately at home with the sometimes loony Knope (Amy Poehler).

“I love that ‘Parks’ allows characters to continue to change, like what happens in the real world,” said Poehler.

The long-anticipated union will add a new layer to the primetime television staple.

“I think being married now just fits naturally into [the show],” said Scott.

Despite new elements to the plot, the cast and crew feel as if they have been living in the fictitious Pawnee for the past five years.

“If this show sticks around long enough, we’re going to have a map in our heads of it,” said Scott. “Basically, when the show is over, the cast and all of the writers are going to a town and live out our lives there.”

Poehler joked that NBC has already purchased a small town and the rights for a new show to follow the cast and crew around.